Dr Henry Bowen

Dr Henry Bowen holds academic status as a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University and is the head of research and training at Military and Emergency Services Health Australia (MESHA), a charity of The Hospital Research Foundation Group. They specialise in how military and first responder cultures and identity influence health and wellbeing, with a focus on delivering practical, evidence-based care solutions through the development of innovative programs. A key focus of their work is advancing postvention services to support families and colleagues affected by suicide within military and first responder communities. Dr Bowen is actively involved in the international transfer of postvention programs and resources, ensuring they are culturally appropriate and effective across diverse settings.

In addition to their postvention work, Dr Bowen developed and leads MESHA’s military cultural competency training for civilians, incorporating lived experience facilitators, and developed the Military Informed Cultural Competency (MICC) Scale. They oversee MESHA’s Placement and Supervision program, training students in military-focused research. Their broader research portfolio includes initiatives on military children’s educational experiences and understanding the unique needs of diverse populations in service communities such as LGBTQIA+ and First Nations.

Outside of their work with military and first responder communities, Dr. Bowen is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in the training and accreditation of Creative Arts Therapists. They were instrumental in developing accreditation standards for Creative Arts Therapists across the Asia-Pacific in partnership with the Australian, New Zealand, and Asian Creative Arts Therapists Association (ANZACATA), the region’s leading professional body. As part of this endeavor, Dr. Bowen assessed all Master’s-level graduate programs throughout the Asia-Pacific for their compliance with professional standards and core competencies. They also developed structured tools for assessing compliance and introduced contextualised professional support guidelines for higher education providers, ensuring they could meet or maintain these standards even if they were not already in compliance.